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In classes children should speak only when the teacher prompts.
In the halls, another matter. But bullying should never be tolerated anywhere on school property.
DETROIT -- Michigan high school teacher Jay McDowell says he didn't like where the discussion was going after a student told his classmates he didn't "accept gays."
So McDowell kicked the boy out of class for a day.
In return, the teacher was suspended for a day without pay for violating the student's free speech rights.
The incident has sparked intense debate in Howell, about 45 miles northwest of Detroit. It's gained far wider attention since the Livingston County Press and Argus released video of a 14-year-old gay student from another city defending McDowell at a Howell school board meeting.
The video has drawn thousands of YouTube views. Howell schools on Monday hosted a community forum to discuss tolerance and diversity issues.
FoxNews.com - Teacher Suspended for Kicking Out Student Over Anti-Gay Speech
I wasn't aware that CHILDREN had free speech at school. It seems teachers are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Comments?
The First Amendment guarantees wide freedom in matters of adult public discourse. A sharply divided Court upheld the right to express an antidraft viewpoint in a public place, albeit in terms highly offensive to most citizens. See Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971). It does not follow, however, that simply because the use of an offensive form of expression may not be prohibited to adults making what the speaker considers a political point, the same latitude must be permitted to children in a public school.
In New Jersey v. T. L. O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985), we reaffirmed that the constitutional rights of students in public school are not automatically coextensive with the rights of adults in other settings. As cogently expressed by Judge Newman, "the First Amendment gives a high school student the classroom right to wear Tinker's armband, but not Cohen's jacket [Cohen's jacket said "Fuck the Draft"].
Student's have no, and indeed can not have the complete freedom of speech that we enjoy while they are in school. Hell, teachers in fact do not have such freedom. It's not conducive to a good educational environment.
Now in THIS particular situation, I have a few questions. How far did things progress before the student was asked to leave the class, and once asked to leave where did he go? In OUR school when a student is asked to leave a class for disciplinary reasons, they are sent to the vice principal of discipline and either disciplined or sent back to class.
Student's have no, and indeed can not have the complete freedom of speech that we enjoy while they are in school. Hell, teachers in fact do not have such freedom. It's not conducive to a good educational environment.
Now in THIS particular situation, I have a few questions. How far did things progress before the student was asked to leave the class, and once asked to leave where did he go? In OUR school when a student is asked to leave a class for disciplinary reasons, they are sent to the vice principal of discipline and either disciplined or sent back to class.
Some states disagree, and specifically give students extra protection under state law and state constitutions.
There are several reasons why violations of student rights are upheld by the courts. One of the most basic reasons is known as in loco parentis. This Latin phrase basically means that while a student is in the custody of a school, the school can and often should act as a parent. In this duty of the school, many decisions can be made that are outside the normal governmental purview. The other basic reason for violation of student rights has to do with the goal of school to educate. If an act of a student can interfere with the educational process, that act may, in many cases, be suppressed.
The Supreme Court said in Tinker that "[If] conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech." This is the hinge upon which many cases turn when a school violates a student's free speech protections.
In Bethel School v Fraser (478 US 675 [1986]), the Court ruled that a school was not violating a students rights when it suspended a student for the use of crude language in a speech to a school assembly. Said the Court: "It does not follow ... that simply because the use of an offensive form of expression may not be prohibited to adults making what the speaker considers a political point, the same latitude must be permitted to children in a public school... The determination of what manner of speech in the classroom or in school assembly is inappropriate properly rests with the school board."
They do in California, where this occurred.
From the OP:
Michigan high school teacher ....
Chances are this teacher knows this student well and teaching him how misguided he is would be an exercise in futility. Sending him out may have prevented a much bigger incident. Trust me I know.
On Oct. 20, McDowell told a student in his classroom to remove a belt buckle with the Confederate Flag, the symbol of the southern confederacy that seceded from the United States over slavery, kicking off the Civil War in the 1860s.
She complied, but it prompted a question from a boy about how the flag differs from the rainbow flag, a symbol of pride for the gay community.
"I explained the difference between the flags, and he said, 'I don't accept gays,''' said McDowell, 42, who was wearing a shirt with an anti-gay bullying message.
McDowell said he told the student he couldn't say that in class.
"And he said, 'Why? I don't accept gays. It's against my religion.' I reiterated that it's not appropriate to say something like that in class,'' McDowell said Monday.
McDowell said he sent the boy out of the room for a one-day class suspension. Another boy asked if he also could leave because he also didn't accept gays.
Teacher Suspended For Ejecting Student Over Anti-Gay Remark : NPR